The Cairns Group seeks to
liberalize
global trade in agricultural produce. In particular, its members aim to abolish
export subsidies
and trade-distorting ("amber box")
domestic support
for agricultural products[3]
and seek to improve market access
for agricultural exports. The coalition attempts to present a common front in multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization
(WTO), tabling joint proposals and occasionally working with like-minded groups such as the G20
group of developing nations.

In September 2018, the
Institute of Economic Affairs
proposed that the United Kingdom
should join the Cairns Group "as soon as possible", stating that although "the UK is not a major agricultural exporter, it is locked into EU supply chains.".

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The Cairns Group was founded in August 1986, when the Australian government spearheaded the formation of a group and organized the inaugural meeting in the city of
Cairns,
Australia.[4]
There were 14 original member countries—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Uruguay—a very diverse group politically and economically. The Australian government led the formation of the group, though some of the South East Asian
countries had been working together on agricultural trade through ASEAN. "One of the most striking aspects of the Cairns Group was the intellectual leadership provided by Australia and to a lesser extent Canada. Australia's commitment to
trade liberalization
was the outcome of a long domestic debate in which neoliberal ideas
had supplanted protectionism
and become the guiding rationale of foreign and domestic policy. The Cairns Group offered a mechanism to promote this agenda in a key multilateral forum."[2]

The Cairns Group successfully forced agriculture onto the agenda of the
Uruguay Round, which eventually led to the
Agreement on Agriculture. In April 1989 in
Geneva,
Switzerland, the Group played a critical role in the framework agreement with United States, the EU, and Japan to cover negotiations during the remainder of the Round.